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BUGERA REVIEW OF ALL 8 OF THEIR AMPS

02-28-2008, 12:08 PM

So I got a monster shipment of the Bugera stuff yesterday consisting of 2 of each of their amps, so last night after the shop closed, I grabbed a couple of my Les Pauls and my Strat, a 12 pack of beer and decided I was really gonna give these things a thorough testing. Heres what I found, keep in mind these are all just my opinion.

First off it was the 6260(head and combo) First was the clean channel. The 6260's do NOT have a clean channel. They have even less of a clean channel than the 5150. With the gain at 9 o clock on the clean channel, you are in Malcolm Young territory. The clean channel sounds good though, and I was able to get a good blues/crunch sound out of it. The Crunch channel has lots and lots of gain, but the voicing of the gain is completely different than the Lead channel. The Crunch channel has a fuzzy , stoner rock-ish vibe to it and I really liked it. The Lead channel has intense amounts of gain. With the gain at 11 o clock , I had more than enough to pull off any kind of metal. Between the 6260 and the 6262, I definately prefer the gain on this one because it is a lot looser and dirtier, if ya know what I mean. Of all of the Bugeras, this amp seems to have the best sounding , most responsive reverb of the bunch.

The 6262: Very similar tone wise to the 6260, but the 6262 has a MUCH better clean channel and the gain overall is much tighter and more focused. With the 6262, I was able to dial in a wide variety of really good sounding tones.

The 333: The first thing I noticed on this amp was that the knobs that they used look and feel very cheap. If I were to buy a 333, I would replace the knobs right away. Tone wise, the 333 was BY FAR AND AWAY my favorite of the Bugeras. The cleans were very nice, the mid gain crunch/blues tone was there, and the lead channel, is literally the high gain tone I have always heard in my head. It is a HUGE sound. Im sure I am going to catch a lot of **************** for this one, but I think the lead tone sounds very similar to a Mark IV , except the 333 has a lot more gain on tap and the EQ is very responsive. This amp has massive amounts of low end if you want it. The gain is very dirty sounding. Very loose and squishy , but your notes stay articulate. If I were in the market for a high gainer, with price being no objective , I would buy a 333.

The 333XL: I was expecting a very similar tone to the 333, but it seems like it went the same way of the 6260/6262, the 333XL is much tighter and more focused. The gain is a lot more crisp. The XL adds a XL switch to the crunch and lead channels, which honestly, makes very little difference in the sound. To me it was barely noticable. The XL also adds a noise gate. The noise gate does make a noticable difference, but nothing compared to the gate on the JSX. With the gate wide open, you will still get some feedback occasionally. The shouldve put a better gate on the amp for sure, but dont get me wrong, it is still there, just not as much as I think it should be. I probably spent the most time playing through this amp, just because it is a very fun amp to play through. There are lots of sounds inside of this thing.

All in all, I am VERY impressed with the sound of these amps. They all have a similar voicing with the exception of the 6260s crunch channel. Over the past 4 years, I have been a dealer for nearly every major amp line and I have had the privilege of playing through some of the best amps in the world, and I can honestly say without a doubt, if tomorrow I decided I needed a high gainer, I would buy a Bugera. I think a lot of the people that have spent lots of $$ on finding their sound might really be pissed at themselves when they play one of these. Hopefully lots of your local dealers will be getting these in soon so you can sit down with em. Only time will tell on the build quality and durability though.

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if only they made them in 'less than arena' wattages-- but i guess they're really all about preamp gain. nice to hear they can still sound pretty good though- especially considering the nice price tag.

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i think i'd have to take whatever you say with a grain of salt since you're a dealer and all, but you've definitly peaked my intrest into these. i'd like to try out the 333

I understand and respect that response, no bull**************** though, I was a guitar player long before I was a Behr dealer, and Im the first one to say, that they have made a lot of garbage. I think everyone should at least give em a run.

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Im sure I am going to catch a lot of **************** for this one, but I think the lead tone sounds very similar to a Mark IV , except the 333 has a lot more gain on tap and the EQ is very responsive.

LOL! How many times are you going to compare these pieces of **************** to MKIV's? Last time, you said the 6260 is like the MKIV. You're either crazy or you're trying really hard to sell these amps by comparing them to a really good amp. No one here is going to buy that BS, man. That said, I welcome clips of your MarkIV-ish Bugera! Make me eat crow.

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The Magician is there version of the mesa mark IV and its about $775.00Its not only a question of price,Mesa quit making it long ago.Demand for a good sounding 3 channel combo is well recieved as it should.If money is no option i get the Mesa for quality build !

A special reissue by mesa of the mark IV seems like a moral imperitive for pride if for no other reason.Marschall wouldnt hesitate a re-issue as well as fender.

The only reason you haven't yet been banned and this thread locked is because we love to give people enough rope to hang themselves. Consider that to be the only time you'll ever be referred to as well hung.